This invention relates to a walker, and in particular, to a walker for attachment to a conventional wheelchair.
Walkers have long been known which provide a frame that can be grasped by a person with limited walking capability to allow the person to walk. The frame typically has legs that rest on the ground through wheels, non-rolling bases or some combination of both.
A device known by the trademark xe2x80x9cMerry Walker,xe2x80x9d provided by Diller Medical, Inc. is commonly utilized for the cognitively impaired yet ambulatory patient. These patients require support with ambulation and a sitting device when tired, these patients are unable to independently use a free standing assistive device for ambulation or to independently maneuver to a free standing chair to sit down when fatigued. this device is useful for the cognitively impaired patient to ambulate without supervision. However, several limitations exist, such as difficulty transferring patients into the xe2x80x9cMerry Walker,xe2x80x9d storage of multiple devices within the facility, costs, transferring patients within the facility and extended seating comfort. Because other devices use four caster wheels the patient has a tendency to turn the device sideways.
The mating of a walker to an associated wheelchair as an aid to a partially ambulatory patient has been addressed in a variety of patents in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,974, dated Aug. 27, 1968 discloses a walker rigidly mounted to wheelchair wherein the walker, when not in use, is stowed by removing its horizontal support crossbar and pivoting its side members alongside, and extending mostly behind the wheelchair proper; the walker side assemblies remaining attached to the wheelchair. Also disclosed is a spring loaded braking system that actuates when the patient applies downward pressure on the walker""s handle grips.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,055 discloses a walker detachable from a wheelchair having mating attachment tubes that are permanently secured to the wheelchair. Use of this walker requires modification to the structure of the wheelchair, and the walker can only be used with a wheelchair that has been so modified. The detached walker remains an assembled, bulky unit, inconvenient for storage.
The present invention provides a walker usable with a conventional unmodified wheelchair, and that further addresses problems of stowage and stability in an effective and simplified manner.
The walker of the invention is a three sided framework providing a front and sides for a wheeled walker. The walker includes clips allowing quick connect/disconnect to the frame of a conventional standard wheelchair, so that the wheelchair provides a rear for the walker and a seat with the walker. The walker frame is formed with a front assembly and two side assemblies that are pivotally linked to the front assembly. When the walker is not in use, and is not connected to a wheelchair, the side assemblies pivot and fold such as in a xe2x80x9czxe2x80x9d pattern, against the front assembly to form a collapsed, removable, compact package. When assembled for connection to a wheelchair, the sides assemblies unfold perpendicularly to the front assembly, and are locked into place by a horizontal crossbar, which also serves as an extra handgrip for the patient. The clips are located at the rear ends of the walker""s side assemblies, and drop over and straddle horizontal frame members of the wheelchair. Tethered pins can then be pushed through the legs of the clips so that the clips tightly grasp the wheelchair""s frame members.
The stability of the walker/wheelchair combination is enhanced by outward bends of the front vertical sections of the walker which increase the side to side width of the walker at a base of the walker but allow portions of the walker above the bands to be narrower to clear obstructions when moving. These section""s ends terminate in swivel caster supports. The walker has two front caster wheels or other wheels mounted in the caster supports. The supports are preferably provided with side stops that limit the angles by which the casters may swivel away from the forward direction. It has been determined that an angular deflection of plus or minus 60xc2x0 relative to the forward direction provides acceptable stability. The casters cannot rotate into the 90xc2x0 positions which would allow the front of the walker to roll in the sideways direction. If the standing patient begins to fall to the side, or to fall backwards, the swivel wheels pivot into the angularly limited stopped positions, at which point they cannot rotate, but slidingly resist movement of the walker due to the frictional force between the caster""s tires and the flooring. Thus, built-in protection against unwanted tipping and instability is provided.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a walker which is attachable to a front end of a wheelchair to allow a person to use the walker in a standing position to move and keep a wheelchair with an associated seat nearby for resting purposes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a walker attachable to a front end of a wheelchair which can be readily removed and collapsed for storage when not in use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a walker attachment to a wheelchair which does not require modification of the wheelchair in any way.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a walker attachment to a wheelchair which is highly stable and resists tipping over, especially laterally.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a walker attachment for a wheelchair which includes a breaking mechanism which causes wheels of the walker to be automatically braked when the walker is moving laterally, such that unwanted lateral movement can be more easily resisted by the user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a walker attachment for a front of a wheelchair which can be readily formed from commonly available materials.
Other further objects of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the included drawing figures, the claims and detailed description of the invention.